Strange occurrences
by fairywm
Summary: this is my first fic... it really like all the other 1x2 fics out there that are based on war time affections... but i am trying to see if i can keep them in charater... and hoping that my errors are not too odvious.. read and enjoy rated t for now
1. Chapter 1

What can I say

What can I say?

It started out simply enough. Just one more thing to do. Tell him that you _like _him. Easy, right? Wrong…

It started with the mission. What mission you say? The one where he almost got his dumb ass killed.

_Flashback_

"Hey Hee-chan?" Duo lounged in the doorway of the room they shared at the school they were hiding in.

"Hn" Heero grunted from his place at the desk. Not even looking up to acknowledge the boy.

"We have a mission."

"Hn"

"You know Hee-man, this would go a lot simpler if you would made those 'hn's' in different tones. Then people would understand you better." Duo replied with a chuckle.

"Hn" Heero grunted again, this time with a smirk.

"See now that was not so hard was it" Duo stated turning away

They had been in the school for a few days and they had come to an understanding. Duo would talk and Heero would "hn". Worked for Heero.

Besides Heero already knew about the mission Dr. J had informed him already. That is what he was doing on his laptop, getting the information they needed. If Duo had looked over his shoulder he would have known that.

Duo shrugged off the door frame, walking into the room and started packing. They would not be staying there. He also mentally started making a list of what they would need. "Hey Hee-chan, what do you think we will need? We are only going of observe, right? The Doctor of Elusive was not forthcoming in detail. And I know that the Doctor of Insanity tells you more. So what are we going to need? Binoculars? Infer-red binoculars? Face paint? Camouflage? Are we going at night or dusk? Will we need flashlights or matches?" noticing that he was not getting a response Duo went on, "Cans of Spam? Marshmallows for roasting? Hot dogs? Hey, maybe smores? Pink tutus? oh, and hey do I get to blow things up?"

Heero looked up from his research and glared at the annoyance that was Duo. "Yes, yes, yes, no, no, night, no, no, maybe, no, can't without fire, only if you wear it and not at this time." He replied.

'Well I guess that is better then 'hn' anyway.' Duo thought as he went over his rambled list to remember the order. Damn Heero and his sharp mind. Duo chuckle to himself, still packing their stuff. Separating the mission stuff from the regular stuff for easy gathering later. Then gathered up the sheets and put them in a pile to put down the laundry chute for the school laundry to do. It was wash day so everyone's sheets should be there and theirs would get lost in the mix.

Heero went back to his research and paid little mind to the other. There were more important things to deal with right now. 'Duo knows what to do; he is just being annoying again.' Heero thought to himself. Right now they needed the lay out of the base they were going to be watching. There was rumor that Oz was building a new weapon there. What kind was unknown, so the doctors had them staking it out. They would be leaving the school and going to a new safehouse. They would have many days to check out the base and were under strict orders not to infiltrate unless they felt the war was at great risk of turning towards the worse.

Duo finishing packing turned to Heero and wondered not for the first time 'wonder if he powers that thing up but shear thought alone? After all it does seem to be attached to his hands.' "Hey He-chan, are you ready we have to bug out when classes are let out, you know. Blending and all that."

"Hn" Heero shutdown his system and packed away his laptop. Looking around to see if he needed to pack anything. Noticing that there was nothing, he shrugged and commenced in wiping everything down. Duo started on his side. He may be a slob in somethings but leaving signs that they were there was not one of them. When Heero saw that all was done he simply shouldered his back packs and left the room, knowing Duo would follow.

Duo smiled 'That's my He-chan.' He thought, though he really didn't know Heero well; he knew enough to know that conversation, while not wasted on him, was not his priority in life and therefore very seldom used. 'Him and that Trowa guy should do an act at the circus, '_The Incredible Silent Brother's, watch them communicate for hours without saying a word. Come one Come all to the most amazingly boring show on earth and space.' _Duo pick up the sheets and the back packs and followed.

Heero looked back and wondered 'What the heck is he smiling about?' dismissing it as unimportant he looked away and went forward.

*****

The safe house was not that far away from the school. Far enough that they should not be recognized but still in the same city. It was located on the seedier side of town as most safe houses are wont to be. This of course is because the bases are wont to be on the outskirts of city's they are attached to. As rich and well-to-do people are wont to stay away from the military. So the boys find themselves in front of a rundown shack. There were no other words to describe it.

"Damn, I hope there's running water." Duo murmured

"I hope there is electricity." Heero countered

"Well there is only one way to find out." Duo said lifting his back packs and sauntered into the house/shack.

The shack looked worse on the outside. "Thank all the little Gods, for small favors." Duo sighed in relief, as he tested the plumbing and found that is worked.

"Hn" Heero stated as he plugged in his laptop and the charger light came on.

"Is that a good 'hn' or a worried 'hn', or it could be a questioning 'hn' or an I'm hungry 'hn'. Man Hee-man, you are going to have to start labeling those. Put little anime bubbles over them so people can read the captions or something. Hey, I am going to scout the area, why don't you put up the sensors and stuff. If I find a store on the way I will pick up some food. Okay?" Duo chatted along, as he found the only bedroom and threw his backpack on the bed occupying it. "Hey 'Ro was there anything you wanted to eat? How about good ole' Mac-n-Cheese? Or do you require health food tonight, cause I tell ya I am getting sick of all that healthy crap. To much healthy after a life time of whatever can not be good for Duo. But if you want it I will get you some and grab me a pizza or something."

"Pizza."

"Heero did you just say a word that didn't start with 'no' or 'hn'?" Duo gapped at him in mock disbelief.

"Baka." Heero muttered "Just get Pizza, it will be dark soon and I don't want to cook this late. We have to turn in early so we can walk the base perimeter tomorrow."

"Oh, and I thought maybe I was rubbing off on you, and I mean that in the non-fun way" Duo taunted

"Hn"

"Damn" grabbing the key to the house and tucking his braid down his shirt, Duo left to scout the area.

After Duo left Heero gave himself a minute to look around the safe house… there was only one room (as Duo had noticed earlier) with one bed (of course). Someone was going be sleeping on the couch, that bed was not going hold both of them. With that in mind he turned to his laptop. He needed to find out where the other pilots were and what they were up to.

Quatre and the Maganac were in Madrid in hiding after their last major hit on an Oz base in Italy. Trowa was with the circus on L2, scouting a suspected recruiting facility there for the resistance. Wu Fei was in hiding no one knew where he was, well except Dr. O, and he was not telling. This more than likely meant that Wu Fei was undercover.

Gathering this information took Heero less than 2 hours. Duo still was not back. Heero told himself he was not worried. He busied himself with setting up the perimeter alarms so that he would not have to think about the braided pilot.

'Duo knows how to take care of himself.' He didn't think to himself. 'He knows how important this mission is. He would not do anything to mess that up.' Still not thinking to himself. 'there is little to no Oz activity in this area, but for the suppose base.' Still not worrying. 'no one is better with knives than Duo. Did he take his knives?' Heero gave up pretending and told himself. 'if he is not back in one hour I will have to go and look for him, stupid baka probably stopped to chat up some girl.' He had noticed that girls seem to like Duo, they chatted him up no matter what school they went to. Duo was always surrounded by people, mostly girls. In some ways Heero was jealous and often short tempered when this anomaly happened around him.

'Even Wu Fei lightens up around him.' He found himself still thinking, 'Oh he yells and rants but no one gets a rise out of Wu Fei like Duo does. Why does he bother, what is the point, what could possibly make it all worth while? I just don't understand how someone can be so happy all of the time. The Dr. trained me not so show my emotions; I have them of course, just trained not to show them. So how can it be bad for me to show them and not bad for him? Maybe it is a personality thing. Maybe I am thinking too much on this. All I really have to know about Duo is that he is a good solider and that he will do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. And everything after that is just extra.' Finishing setting up the alarms Heero once again returns to his computer.

45 minutes later Duo comes back. "Hey, 'Ro did you miss me? I got you a healthy Pizza one with vegetables and chicken on it. Do you know how hard that type of pizza is to find, I mean there is a war going on and vegetables are not as cheap as it use to be. I hope you know of the sacrifice to my pride just to carry that for you. I mean I don't go and order stuff like that everyday. It would ruin my rep. well if I had one, which since we are new in the area, I don't. But that is okay I mean I can't ruin something I don't have yet so I guess all is well. Hey never mind then and enjoy the pizza 'Ro."

Putting the pizza boxes on the counter Duo went to see if there were any plates. Since they did not plan on staying there for very long he didn't pick up anything that would have to be left behind. Seeing that there weren't any he shrugged and grabbed some paper towels and handed some to Heero. "Sorry dude, this will have to do. It is not so bad trust me I have eaten off much worse."

That perked Heero's interest. Not that there was anything wrong with eating with napkins, but the tone of which that statement was made. "hn." Lifting and eyebrow in Duo's direction.

"Oh my God Heero, that was almost a question. Problem is 'm not sure what you are questioning. The pizza, the napkins, or the lack of plates?" Duo teased.

"You've had worse?"

"Yeah, I mean growing up on the mean streets of L2; well there weren't that many plates." Duo replied

Heero tucked that away for future reference, and commenced to eating his pizza. It really was a healthy pizza. There were vegetables and chicken. Not a bad pizza in Heero's opinion. Another peace of information to tuck away, Duo pays attention.

"So, Heero what did you find out about the others? Anyone hear from Wu Fei yet? You want my opinion? I think that he is sulking, that whole Khushrenada thing? Justice and unfair fighting and all that or in this case bad loser. Don't get me wrong I like Wu Fei and all but his values and priorities are a little screwy. What do you think? I mean you kind of have the same values? Though you are all about the war and peace; and he is all about protecting the weak."

"Do you even need to breathe?" Heero asked a little amazed.

"Of course I need to breathe, what kind of question is that? Do I look like a vampire? If I was a vampire I would not be able to wear this cross." Pulling out said cross and showing it to Heero. "Besides there is garlic on this pizza I would not be able to eat it if I were a vampire. Why do you think I don't need to breathe? Just because I can eat and talk at the same time does not mean I don't need to breathe?" finishing off his pizza and throwing the paper towel away. Duo stretched and yawned. "Besides you never did answer my question."

"Which question?"

"Did you find out where the other guys are and what they are doing?"

"Trowa, L2, recruiters. Quatre, Madrid, Maganac. Wu Fei, unknown." Heero shrugged

"Fountain of information you are. I could get more water out of a rock then information out of you." Duo sighed.

"If you really wanted to know then you would have looked for yourself. I gave you the necessary information. There is nothing more you need to know." Heero answered, finishing off his own pizza and disposing of the boxes and the trash.

"So who is getting the bed and who is getting the couch?"

"Since we are going to be here for a few days we can switch off. I will take the couch tonight you the bed. Then tomorrow you can have the couch and so on."

"Okay He-man, will do. Man I am beat, finding a place that would make your pizza was not an easy task. Do you know how many pizza joints I had to go to? I mean no one does healthy anymore. And like I said before, what with the war and all, vegetables for pizza are not a high commodity. But for you buddy o' mine any thing that will make you that much less grumpy is worth it." Duo said with a smile to take the bite out the words.

Heero just looked at him. "Bed." And with that one word turned and grabbed his pack and headed to the bathroom to change.

Duo stared after him, 'Wonder what he did the entire time I was gone. I mean I know he looked for the other pilots, but I noticed that there are no perimeter defenses set up, wonder what got him off guard like that. I mean I may not know much about the Perfect Soldier but I do know that is an important piece of who he is … to be protected at all times. Oh, well I will set them up maybe I misunderstood earlier and I was suppose to do that when I got back.'

"Hey, Hee-chan I am going to set up the proximity alarms. I should be back in about half an hour. Try not to use up all the hot water. I would like to shower before I hit the hay. Hey, do you ever wonder where that phrase come from? I am going to have to look that up one day" Duo grabs the duffel with the alarms and starts for the door. "Hey if you figure that out let me know okay. And I if I am not back in like an hour or so, be so kind as to come and look for me, okay? Heero? Hey are you listening to me? Oh well, be back soon, leave me so water okay?" he asked again, "Do you know what a bitch it is to wash all this hair in cold water, the shampoo never comes out." With those parting comments Duo left to complete his small mission.

Heero stared at the door in complete disbelief. 'I didn't set out the alarms? How could I have possibly not set out the alarms? That is the second most important thing to do in an new area. How could I have been so careless? Think what were you doing, Heero? ….. you were spending to much time worrying about that braided baka. What the heck were you doing that for? When did he become more important that safety of the mission?' Shaking his head he promised to run a full body self diagnostic meditation in the morning or tonight if it kept him from his sleep.

'Hit the hay, let me think. I think that comes from way before the war as a matter it comes from before any of earth major wars. When they built their beds in wooden frame full of hay. There also come the phrase that "you made your bed you lay in it." Great now the idiot has me thinking of unimportant things… what if this happens when we are on a mission and he ask me these stupid questions? Do I answer them or let them mull in my head till it explodes. Maybe that is why he talks so much cause he has all these stupid question in his head and his mouth is trying to keep him for exploding.' With that thought Heero stepped in the shower safe in the knowledge that Duo was making the safe house well… safe.

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

The boys woke up the next morning in the bright and dark hours of 3am, to prepare to go to the base. Heero heated water and made instant coffee, Duo hunted up breakfast bars from their packs. They ate in silence, cause contrary to popular belief Duo did not talk all the time. In truth he was down right quiet when he had to be. Waking up was one of those times. When he was a child he learn that most people are not morning people, and those that are not morning people tend to get a little violent with morning people. So he sat there sipping his coffee and waiting for Heero to completely wake up. Not suicidal, our Duo.

"So Heero," Duo said after a few minutes had past "When are we going in? What exactly are we doing? I know we are to observe but what are we looking for. You know if the were a solo mission than I am sure I would have been briefed better but since you are the Perfect Soldier I think my Doc thought I would get everything from you and your Doc. So what gives are they building suits or are they recruiting? Is this a training base? Are there important people hiding out there? What gives? What……"

"Duo breathe. If you would give me a moment to answer the first couple of questions then you would not have had to waste all that air." Heero said as he removed his hand from the other boys mouth. "Now we are not going in at all, there is a hill above the base that we can see from, there are trees that we can make our base in. We are looking for peculiar activity, the Drs. think that there is some experimenting going on. We are trying to see what that activity is. Dr. G more the likely did not brief you better because he was not sure what to tell you about this mission, besides you would have asked to many questions that he could not answer." Heero finished calmly "Now go get the gear from the bedroom while I pack up my laptop."

"My God, Heero you have impressed me, not only did you answer all my questions but you did it in order. And you spoke more then one word at a time. I would have thunk if you had to talk more than one word at a time then it would have taken all day." Duo smiled to take the bite out "But you did answer all my questions and you were right I should have let you answer before I rambled on. I will try to work on that."

"Hn"

Duo just smiled knowing it would take a lot to get Heero to go off like that again. He turned to grab the mission packs and packed the non-mission packs, with what ever they had taken out the night before. If something went wrong and they had to bug out he did not want to have to leave what little he had left behind. He would of course and there was no doubt that Heero would as well but why if you can make it easier to just jam. The sheets came off the bed and were thrown in the cleaner. They would be ready to put on the bed when they returned and if they did not return they would be clean of all DNA. There was not much they could do about prints, but since neither were registered, that was not a major problem just a minor worry. The cups were put in the dish cleaner for the same reason. All non-mission gear was stowed in a cupboard.

Duo turned from his tasks backpacks in hand "Ready." He stated.

Heero looked and did something he thought he would never do, he joked "Was that a one word comment from you?"

Duos mouth dropped "You made a joke… oh my God …. You made a joke. If we did not have a mission I would have to check into the hospital for shock and I then I would have to have shock treatment to over come the shock. So it is a good thing that we have a mission but I got a warn you Heero if you do that to often I am going to think you have a sense of humor. And then were would you be?"

"Hn" Heero that one through a minute and came back with "Quieter?"

"Oh my God… was that another joke? No wait you are serious. How could you be quieter? Never mind don't answer that we have a mission to get to." Duo opened the door and did quite and eloquent bow "After you, oh funny one."

Heero pulled on he braid as he past "Baka"

And off the boys went into the dark of the morning. Brave boys our heroes.

~*~

After securing the perimeter, the boys went off through the streets towards the woods. The streets were quiet and the more the walked the quieter they got. Duo put a hand to Heero's upper arm stopping him. "Wait." Both boys looked around there was something very wrong. There were no animals, no birds, no strays, nothing to make noise in the quiet neighborhood. "This is wrong, there should be rats or something. Trust me it is not winter there should be animals all in these alleys, looking for food or nest material."

Heero had to wonder how Duo knew what the animals would be doing, but that was a question for a later time. His nerves were on high alert and he did not want to disturb the quiet until he found out why.

After a few minutes the silence was broken by a baby crying, then a woman yelling, and then a man yelling back. Humans did not have the instinct to tell them something was wrong. Well not untrained humans, unlike our boys here. Duo looked at Heero and jerked his head to the left where the woods were. The boys took off in a quiet jog that disturbed not a soul.

After they had left the town behind them and were about two miles into the woods Duo broke the silence.

"That was just creepy. What do you think that was? Should we put it in our reports cause if anything was peculiar, that was? I mean I know what streets are suppose to be like in the predawn, before anyone is awake. And trust me when I say if the humans are asleep then animals are awake. But there were no animals. I mean it was like someone picked a neighborhood and just wiped it clean of vermin. I wonder if that means they will go to the next neighborhood and do the same there. That would completely throw the balance of nature off, to get rid of all the vermin. Then who would eat the trash and the insect? I mean that is like bad in major earth damaging proportions. I would even think that it would be worse than war. And what if whatever it was doesn't stop at animals and starts on humans… well that might not be as devastating cause humans know when humans disappear and they usually find the cause and stop it. So though bad that maybe not be as bad. What do you think Heero?"

"Hn, give me a min." Heero's mind was going over a hundred mile an minute trying to catch up with Duos rambling and computing what he saw and didn't hear. Though he knew Duo was correct, if not a little blow out of proportion, he could not think of what might have cause all the animals to disappear. There is only one thing that does that to animals and that is fear. "Let's complete the mission, if this is part of it then we will investigate that. If not then we really don't have the time or the resources to figure it out."

"Just like that, mission mode Heero, I mean what if …."

"Duo," Heero cut him off "we have to complete the mission, it is more the likely tied in somehow, but we cannot know until we complete the mission."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Duo fell to silence and just followed the trail, sharp on the look out for anything usual and unusual. That scared this morning and had him on edge even further. So as he trudged along he got to thinking about the types of things that would scared the local rat population. Or even worse the local strays away. There was not one animal in the world that he could think of that would scare rat and cat alike into complete silence. So what was it. There were many animals in myths that could do such but Duo was not well versed in myths. 'Maybe we should ask the other guys. I wonder what Heero would think on that. Is it something the doc's would know?'

"Hey Heero, what do you think the docs think is at the base? I mean when you said we are looking for anything unusual are we talking mentally or physically changed people? 'Cause I got to tell you it is easy to see the physical than the mental. I mean how are we to know what a telekinetic looks like are we suppose to look for things floating around? Or someone with green body hair? Are we looking for people with more than two body limb? Come on Heero I am sure your goggle-eyed doc made reference to something? Come to think of it, are we even looking for people? Maybe it is animals we should be looking at. 'Cause let me tell you the more I think about it the more that makes sense with what we felt in town. I mean a tricked out dog could scare just about anything. Wouldn't you think so? So what do you think Heero?" Duo pause long enough to see if he was even being paid attention to

"Hn," Heero was deep in thought the whole conversation through.

Duo huffed "You know I have said it in jest many times Heero but come on can you put some infliction in those 'Hn's'. 'Cause I got to tell you though I am prone to ramble on just about anything, however I really would like it if my question were taken seriously on this one."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Duo fell to silence and just followed the trail, sharp on the look out for anything usual and unusual. That scared this morning and had him on edge even further. So as he trudged along he got to thinking about the types of things that would scared the local rat population. Or even worse the local strays away. There was not one animal in the world that he could think of that would scare rat and cat alike into complete silence. So what was it. There were many animals in myths that could do such but Duo was not well versed in myths. 'Maybe we should ask the other guys. I wonder what Heero would think on that. Is it something the doc's would know?'

"Hey Heero, what do you think the docs think is at the base? I mean when you said we are looking for anything unusual are we talking mentally or physically changed people? 'Cause I got to tell you it is easy to see the physical than the mental. I mean how are we to know what a telekinetic looks like are we suppose to look for things floating around? Or someone with green body hair? Are we looking for people with more than two body limb? Come on Heero I am sure your goggle-eyed doc made reference to something? Come to think of it, are we even looking for people? Maybe it is animals we should be looking at. 'Cause let me tell you the more I think about it the more that makes sense with what we felt in town. I mean a tricked out dog could scare just about anything. Wouldn't you think so? So what do you think Heero?" Duo pause long enough to see if he was even being paid attention to

"Hn," Heero was deep in thought the whole conversation through.

Duo huffed "You know I have said it in jest many times Heero but come on can you put some infliction in those 'Hn's'. 'Cause I got to tell you though I am prone to ramble on just about anything, however I really would like it if my question were taken seriously on this one."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

"I am not sure what is going on at this base. Yes, we are looking for something unusual. Dr. J only told me that he heard rumor that they were doing experiments at this base, but that they had not gotten far. If you see anyone with more then the correct body limbs, or animals that are walking on two legs or bigger then they are suppose to be, then you will have answered your own question."

"Sorry, man I am just a little freaked about the trek up here. I mean I know I talk a lot and I know I have a lot of questions. However you are the only person here at this time and I have no one to ask. So if I get on your nerves or whatever, just let me know. I can't promise that I will stop but at least I will know to tone it down. By the way thanks for answering, there are times when I do need to know , you know." Duo smiled, Heero could not help but smirk back. There was something about this guy that just made Heero want to try and be more… well just more.

The boys set up camp on a clearing that overlooked the camp, but could not be seen from said camp. They set up just like any other boys their age would have set up… nothing professional no guns or weapons in sight, but for a rifle that looked more like a bebe gun. The tent was just a small tent for two persons. The fire was set up but not lit. The food was tied to the tree. The sleeping bags were still in their rolls next to the tent, so they could be put either around the fire or in the tent, pending the weather.

Duo looked around. "Yeah no one is going to mistake us for terrorist. No self-respecting terrorist would set up such a lousy camp. Hey do you think we should put the guns in the bushes? I mean it is not like the animals are going to set them off by accident. Not the one you are oh so cleverly carrying concealed in those oh so tight spandex pants. How do you do that anyway? I mean I would never ask you to go unarmed. Not when we are on a mission at the very least. Hey, do you want to take first watch? Do you think we should start the fire? I mean I know we are suppose to be keeping out of sight, but we are in a national park after all. I wonder what fool put a base right outside a national park? I wonder, did they do that on purpose? I mean why would they need this much land. Maybe we should put the bebe gun up, someone might think we are going to shoot something, and there is not hunting in the park. But then again we are suppose to be teenagers so what do we care about the law, huh?

Heero looked at Duo and answered, "No, I don't think we should hide guns in the bushes? Special holster. Yes I will take first watch. No we should not start a fire, but keep the matches ready. Maybe they need the room. Leave the bebe gun there."

With that said he took the sleeping bags and put them aside and dug a hole. When he had finished he scrounged for some dead fall and put it next to the hole. Taking the packs with the guns and spy equipment, he placed them in the hole. Put the deadfall over the hole, placed some firewood over the deadfall, arranged so that it was easily knocked aside and put the sleeping bags in front of the wood. With the extra guns secure he then rummaged through the packs until he came out with binoculars a bird watchers guide and a note book.

"Hey, Heero what are you doing with that book, I mean I know we are going to get bored but are you really going to watch birds?"

"Baka, binoculars."

"Oh, I see you want to have an excuse to have the binoculars out. But what if someone comes at night? What are you going to tell them that you are watching for owls or bats or something? Hey that is a good idea. And that could be why we don't have the fire lit, it would ruin our night vision."

"Hn"

Duo got some rations out of the bags and settled down to eat, when he finishes he planned on taking a nap. After all he was getting the second watch and it would do no good to go to sleep while on guard/watch duty.

"I am going to scout a good location away from camp to spy on the base. Keep a watch here till I tell you where I am." Heero stated as he wandered away.

"Sure thing, buddy. Do you think I should set up some perimeter alarms for us? There are still wild animals here. If I set them up, I think we are going to be chasing animals all night long."

"No."

"Okay, buddy just as you say. I am going to sit tight then and maybe read this book of yours. Don't want to be caught not knowing what we are suppose to be doing. I mean if someone were to ask…" Duo was talking to dead air, Heero has already moved on.

'I wonder why he is so in control, I mean I know I got some special training but he seems to have a head and heart made of steel. I wonder what made the streets so quiet? There is not much that can still all animal. I wonder if we are going to find it at this base or is it something else completely? I wonder if I should be taking notes, I don't want our cover blown because I was to lazy to do something as natural as writing…' Duos monologue continued as he ate his rations and read the book.

Heero in the mean time was scouting just like he said. There were plenty of trees surrounding the base and the camp. Since they were suppose to be two teenage boys out for a camping trip he needed to be careful where he set up his "bird watching platform", there was a small cliff not far from camp, on this cliff there were over hanging trees. One look strong enough to hold a young man and not crash down the cliff. Heero scrounged once more for deadfall to make a sort of platform. After arranging the deadfall to where he could see in a complete circle he tested the area to see if it could hold his weight. It could. Since he was sure he weighted more then Duo it would do.

Taking the binoculars out and hanging them from a branch, Heero then set about putting in cubby holes for weapons and rations. They had no idea how long they were going to be here. He was told to stay no more than a week. If they did not see anything before then than there was probably nothing to see.

After he set up the platform he returned to camp. Seeing Duo immersed in the bird watcher book he took a minute to study his partner. Duo was playing with his braid in a mindless kind of way. Like it was something to keep his finger occupied. Heero always thought that braids were for girls. Thin tight braids are what men with long hair wore. Not this thick long braid that seems to make Duo look like a girl from behind. But once he turned around you knew Duo was all boy. So why the braid? Why the freaky priest clothing? What was it that made Duo want to be do different? But when he looked back on how Duo was treated in the school they had just come from he realized that it was something most teenagers did. They darkened their hair, painted their nails, wore weird outfits. Maybe it was not Duo that was so strange. Maybe is was himself for not wanting to be as different as everyone else.


End file.
